Padlock



UNITED sTATEs lPATENT onirica.

JOHN SCHNEIDER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PADLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent No.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN SCHNEIDER, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Padlocks; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification.

My invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of padlock mechanisrn whereby a bolt or bolts are shot through a staple or staples in the shackle by the action of the shackle itself but which is not capable of being moved except by the true key or its duplicate applied to it from without. In these locks the principle of security consists in a combination of tumblers working in connection with each other, when acted upon by the original key only, also in the great strength and permanency of parts, not liable to get out of order.

The most common mode of giving security to locks is the insertion of wards; the form and position of such wards is easily detected by wellknown artifices of burglars. Their substitution by tumblers z'. e. the substitution of movable to fixed obstructions to prevent the introduction of other instruments than the proper key, was a great improvement and it is this class of locks that my improvement relates to. The bolt is detained so as to prevent its motion until the key in turning, first lifts the tumblers out of contact with the bolt before moving it. The present state of the art of lock picking however rendered this principle of security quite ineffectual.

In my improved padlock I have therefore introduced a trigger or secondary tumbler which serves as an additional security. By this simple addition and without adding Inaterially to the cost, locks are rendered perfectly secure against picking.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention I now proceed to describek its construction and operation.

Figures l and 2 are two views of the lock complete, having the covering plate removed so as to show it in both its locked and unlocked state.

The casing with the pins or pivots p p2 p3 and p, which are points of rotation for the bolt, tumbler, trigger and spring is cast in one piece. These pins are upright in relation to the bottom of the case, their length 19,208, dated January 26, 1858i.

being equal to the thickness of the lock or to the internal depth of the case. Several rivets or studs are also cast in the border of the case which fit into correspon-ding holes of the covering plate and which serve to secure the latter to the case. At a an opening is left to the border to allow that part of the bow or shackle which is provided with staples to penetrate the interior of the case. At or near this opening a projection is cast to the case which terminates at the underside by a round surface of which p forms the center. This surface forms a cavity into which the bolt travels. The bolt B of which Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the underside consists of a circular plate having a hole at its center to fit it on the pin p upon which it is free to rotate. This circular plate has several indentations on its circumference so as to form the round bolthook C, the

notches 'm n and 0 to catch the stump of the y tumbler and trigger, and also the recess r which is so shaped as to present a curved surface to the bit of the key when caused to act upon it to produce its motion around its center of rotation. This plate level on the upper side is provided with projections on the underside one forming a collar S borders the central orifice of the bolt and serves the purpose of keeping the plate at a certain distance from the bottom of the case so as to Aclear a stud cast onto said bottom and of diminishing friction.

The other projection is a stud t which is made to furnish a hold to a spring and is so located as to face laterally the stud in the bottom of the case to limit the rotating motion of the bolt.

T T are tumblers or triggers-(I call the former a tumbler, the latter a trigger to distinguish them from each other) of a peculiar construction operating in conjunction with each other and the bolt. The tumbler T is set on the same pivot as the bolt and is free to rotate thereon as far as the stud d on its underside and the position of the trigger T allows of. The shape of these tumblers cannot be described except by referring directly to the drawings and in order to understand the object of giving these peculiar forms to each of the pieces it is necessary to explain the operation. The trigger T is shown in two positions in Figs. 1 and 2 a perspective view in Fig. 3. It consists of a plate of the shape of a boot, which is pivoted at p3 and also capable of a movement of rotation. A spring S having two branches bearing respectively upon the stud 25 of the bolt and the back of the trigger, will produce the simultaneous rotation of these parts in contrary direction, when released by the action of the bolt of the key. The trigger T has underneath the heel a stud (Z which falls into the notches m andV the trigger T forms a double undulating line into which a similar shaped side of the tumbler -T (see Figs. 1, 2 and 4,) fits when the bolt is open It is obvious when thisv tumbler is moved around its center of rotation at p it will displace the trigger, whereby the stud of the latter releases the bolt so as to allow it to rotate and be shot.

The motion of the tumbler T is imparted by the shackle itself, by pressing against the cam surface f of said tumbler. It will be seen that this is a spring lock, in other words a lock that is shot by the action of the shackle from without instead by that of keys.

The key is indispensable for unlocking, the operation being as follows: The shank of the key shown in Fig. 6 is a hollow cylinder and working on a spindle 292, the key on being turned from the right to the left will bring the bolt or bit to bear against the underside of the trigger bar on lever g. This will lift the trigger out of contact with the bolt, leaving the latter free to revolve when further acted upon. The bit of the key now strikes the cam side of the bolt and pushes it along and around the pin p.

This motion is also impartedto the tumbler T by the stud catching into the side notch 0 of the bolt. When the bolt is turned so much around its pivot as to disengage the staple, the shackle will fly out, by the action of the advancing cam of the tumbler T.

The moment the shackle is free, the stud d of the trigger catches into notch n and the heel with the recess of the tumbler T as above described. It will be perceived that none but the true key or its duplicate will open the lock, as the surfaces bearing against each other have to come into mutual 4contact at the precise moment required to effect their operation, but when the bit of a key is longer or shorter or shaped differently from the true one the surfaces referred to are not brought in contact at the required moment, whereby the operation is rendered impossible.

I-Iaving now fully described my improvement what I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is* In padlocks wherein the bolt is shot through the staple of the shackle by the direct action of the shackle itself I claim the peculiar mechanism herein described consisting of a bolt and tumbler rotating upon a common stationary spindle in combination with an auxiliary trigger, the said parts being constructed, arranged and operating in connection with each other inthe manner substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification before twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN soHNEIDER.-

Witnesses:

A. POLIAKE, JOHN S. HOLLINGSHEAD. 

